‘The recent judgment of Mr Justice Peter Jackson that doctors and relatives do not always need to consult the court before withdrawing medical treatment from a terminally ill patient has been reported under headlines labelling it a “right to die” case. This is wrong and risks conflating two quite different situations in the lay reader’s mind.’

‘A judge has made a landmark ruling that legal permission will no longer be required by a court before life-supporting treatment is withdrawn from patients suffering from severely debilitating illnesses, lawyers say.’

‘There are so many reasons why we value and promote choice and autonomy. The country and news media quite rightly protests with outrage when bad things happen to good people as their lives and civil liberties are destroyed by acts of terrorism and grievous crimes.’

‘On 6 March 2017, the House of Lords held a short debate on assisted dying. Baroness Jay of Paddington asked Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they had made of recent legislation on assisted dying in North America; and whether those laws provide an appropriate basis for legislation in England and Wales.’

‘A woman in the end stage of multiple sclerosis has been granted the right to die, in a landmark legal ruling.
The woman’s daughter had told how her mother was “completely incapacitated” and had asked Mr Justice Hayden to allow doctors to stop providing “clinically assisted nutrition and hydration”.’

‘A mother asked a High Court judge to choose whether her 18-month-old son should live or die so that she did not have to decide herself. Mr Justice Hayden said that the mother, who had a “deep-seated” religious faith, had been “in turmoil” over choosing whether or not her son’s life-support machine should be turned off.’